Nowhere has the national outpouring of charity following the Jan. 11 terrorist attacks been more pronounced than in Hollywood, where big stars and big business have either contributed or helped to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for relief efforts.

For good and for bad, that response has not gone unnoticed.

While many have praised the generosity and patriotism, others are asking why it has taken a national catastrophe for Hollywood to become a responsible corporate citizen.

“What we’ve seen is the incredible ability of individuals and entertainment companies to give,” said Alice Callaghan, director of Las Familias del Pueblo, a downtown-based agency that serves the homeless with an annual budget of $175,000. “Frankly, I’m appalled that it’s not coming the rest of the year to other people who are in need of help on a daily basis.”

Notwithstanding the philanthropy of many individuals who have made it big in the performing arts, Hollywood historically has been viewed as somewhat Scrooge-like by local charities.

Today partly in response to earlier criticisms, some made after the 1992 Los Angeles riots all the major studios have extensive community relations departments and can point to long lists of charitable donations they support. But when it comes to day-in and day-out giving, many believe that Hollywood still lags behind much of corporate America.

“The studios will donate something because they don’t want to appear un-American,” said USC history professor Steven Ross. “They’re giving as a symbolic gesture. But how much does this amount to? I don’t know. I’m a little suspicious.

“If the leading stars and businesses in the entertainment industry really wanted to help they could have ponied up $150 million on their own,” Ross said, referring to the amount that had been raised through the “Tribute to Heroes” telethon as of last week.

Studio response

Studio representatives strongly deny that those businesses are shirking their social responsibilities, or even donating less than other comparably sized companies.

“It’s really not the case. In fact, we have about 20 ongoing local efforts,” said Walt Disney Co. spokeswoman Michelle Bergman, pointing to Disney’s support for schools in Glendale and Burbank as well as its donations to local and national charities such as Meals on Wheels. Disney contributed $5 million to relief efforts and helped raise millions more, and that won’t affect its local giving, she said.

“We feel very strongly about helping people in our communities and we pursue that aggressively,” Bergman said.

One way they do that is by making celebrities and other employees available for fund-raisers and other events.

“They’ve been extraordinarily generous to our children. I can’t say enough about the celebrity community, from professional wrestlers to the music industry,” said Judith Lewis, president and chief executive of Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles.

“We try to remember who our neighbors are. We’re very closely aligned with people in our community,” said one executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment, which supports a number of arts and education programs at Culver City schools.

Still, not everyone is convinced.

“It’s always been my impression that while some entertainers and studios do things that are truly generous, it’s usually been in gifts in-kind, performances, events, that sort of thing. Less in donations of money,” said George Ruotolo, president of the American Association of Fundraising Council.

“We don’t have a big record of giving (from studios),” said Joe Haggerty, president of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, who noted that he was nonetheless pleased to see the outpouring of donations from Hollywood in response to the terror attacks.

Historical pattern

Ross said the studios relative lack of charitable giving has a historical context dating back to the 1930s when stars were warned not to be political for fear of alienating segments of the audience.

“They’ve always been leery. Studios are always afraid of offending people. And if you give to one you are going to offend another,” Ross said.

Another factor, most agree, is the volatile nature of the entertainment business, where fortunes are made and lost on a single film and it’s tricky for studios to accurately gauge their financial picture from one year to the next.

“You know what they say, ‘when you’ve got the series, your rich. When you don’t, you’re not,'” said Torie Osborn, executive director of the Liberty Hill Foundation in Santa Monica.

“The riots were a wakeup call,” Osborn said. “There used to be a disconnect between L.A.-based (giving) and L.A.-based causes. It was kind of hipper to give to a national campaign, but I do think that is changing.”